Submarine vessel



L. B. DOANE.

SUBMA'RINE VESSEL. APPucATlon H LED 1AN.`24. |920.

Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

battery for propelling UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS B. DOANE, OF NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 ELECTRIC BOATCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SUBMARINE VESSEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnwis B. DoANn, a citizen of the United States,residing at 549 Ocean avenue, New London, in the county of New London,State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Submarine Vessels; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

T his invention relates to submarine boats and more particularly to themechanism employed for the propulsion of such boats.

Submarine boatsv as commonly constructed consist of a hull which is moreor less circular in cross-section and a non-watertight superstructureerected upon this hull. The propulsion mechanism usually consists of aninternal combustion engine for propelling the boat upon the surface andan electric motor supplied with current from a storage the boat whensubmerged. The present invention involves a construction of thischaracter and relates particularly to the devices through which theexhaust from the internal combustion engine is carried to the exteriorof the hull. Provision must be made for the free exhaust of the productsof combustion from the engine to the exterior atmosphere when the boatis running on the surface and the passage for these exhaust productsmust be effectually sealed when the boat is submerged since otherwisethe water of submergence would pass into the engine.

As is well recognized, it is of the utmost importance that the timerequired for changing a submarine from the surface-running condition tothe submerged condition be reduced to a minimum. This makes it of greatimportance that the means for closing the passage for the exhaustproducts be capable of operation quickly. Furthermore, when a valve isemployed for closing the exhaust passage, this valve should be providedwith a relatively soft gasket to insure a watertight seal and thisrequires that the valve be moved against the seat with considerablepressure. When this valve with its soft gasket is in the open positionit should be protected against injury by the hot products of combustionand the carbon carried thereby.

This invention is directed to the provision of a means for closing suchan exhaust outlet which fulfils all of these desirable characteristics.

In accordance with the invention, the closure for the exhaust outletconsists of a valve which is movable to a closed position to an openposition and in its open position it is submerged in a tank of water toprotect the gasket of the valve. For moving the valve from this openposition to the closed position two mechanisms are provided, one ofwhich is capable of moving the valve rapidly from its open position tosubstantially the closed position, and the other operating mechanism isadapted for moving the valve slowly and exerting considerable power tomove it so that the gasket of the rvalve will be compressed enough toinsure a watertight closure. This second operating mechanism for movingthe valve preferably includes a worm and worm-gear as such gearingconstitutes a lock for holding the valve against unintended retractilemovement. In combination with these parts, a cover is preferablyprovided movable in correspondence with the movement of the valve and sopositioned that when the valve is in its open position the cover servesas a shield to protect the valve from contact with the hot products ofcombustion.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view inelevation of the stern of a submarine boat; and Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection through a portion of the superstructure of the boat on anenlarged scale.

Referring to these drawings, 3 indicates the watertight hull of asubmarine boat. It is more or less circular in cross-section. On this iserected a superstructure 4 which is not watertight. Vithin the hull ofthe boat is an interna-l combustion engine 5 for driving the propeller6. Also, an electric motor 7 is provided and the arrangement is suchthat either the engine 5 or the motor 7 may be connected to the shaft 8of the propeller 6 at will, the engine being used for surface runningand the motor for submerged running. The exhaust from the engine 5 isnormally led to and through a pipe 9 to a muffler l() mounted within thesuperstructure 4:. These exhaust devices will now be described inconnection with Fig. 2.

rI`he exhaust pipe 9 passes through an opening in the hull of the boatand is connected'to one end of an L 11 within the superstructure. Theopposite end this L is connected to a valve casing 12 and this casingcommunicates with the muffler 10. Preferably both the L 11 and thevalvecasing 12 are water-jacketed, and the valve casing 12 may, ifdesired, be provided with a movable wall constituting a valve which maybe opened to permit the exhaust products to escape without passingthrough the muiiier 10. The end of the L 11 within the valve casing 12constitutes a seat for a valve 14e by which the passage for the exhaustgases from the engine to the mui'ller is closed. This valve is providedwith a gasket of rubber or other similar material set in a groove in theface of lthe valve and adapted to be pressed against the seat of thevalve when the valve is moved to the closed position. The valve iscarried by an arm 15 which is pivotally mounted by being secured to ashaft 16 journaled in a frame 17 mounted upon the hull of a boat.Preferably the shaft 16 has a counterweight 18 mounted thereon tobalance the weight of the valve and its supporting tank 19 is mountedupon the hull of the boat in such position that when the valve 1/1 ismoved to the open position by turning shaft 16, the valve will becarried down into the water within the tank 19. In so moving from theclosed to the open position, the valve 14 passes through a circularopening in the bottom wall of the valve casing 12. The bounding wall ofthis circular opening forms a seat for a cover 20 of circular form. Thiscover is carried by an arm 21 which is pivotally mounted by beingsupported on a shaft 22 journaled in bearings carried by the valvecasing 12, The shaft 22 carries a crank arm 23 and the shaft 16 carriesa similar crank arm 2li. These two crank arms are connected by a link 25so that the shafts 1G and 22 move together. F ig. 2 shows threepositions of the valve le and the cover 20. Vhen the valve is in theclosed position the cover is in the inter-me diate one of its threepositions in which it is shown in dotted lines. During the first portionof the opening movement of the valve 1st, the cover is moved about vtheshaft 22 in a. counter-clockwise direction until it reaches the positionin which it is shown in the dot and dash lines. Thereafter the openingmovement of valve 14e continues until the valve reaches the full openposition and is submerged within the tank 19 and during this movement ofthe valve the cover 2O is moved in a clockwise direction until it isbrought down upon the seat provided for it on the bottom wall of thecasing 12. Thus when the valve lll is in the open position it issubmerged in water which protects it and particularly protects itsgasket from injury from the hot products of coinbustion. .`urthermore,the opening through Vwhich the valve passes in moving from its closed toits open position is closed after the passage of the valve therethroughby the cover 2() which affords further protection for the valve and itsgasket from the products of combustion.

The valve llland cover 20 are moved to their open and closed positionsfrom within the hull of the boat. .For this purpose, two actuating mchanisins are provided, both operatii'ig through a vertical shaft 2Gwhich passes through an opening in the hull of the boat and a suitablestul'ling box for preventing leakage Vthrough that opening. At its upperend the shaft carries a bevel gear 2T which meshes with a bevel gear 28on the shaft 16. Ait its lower end the shaft 2G carries a bevel gear 29which meshes with a similar gear 3() on a horizontal shaft 31 which isjournaled in bearings carried by a frame 32 depending from the roof ofthe hull 3. Fixed upon the shaft 31 is a hand lever 33 providrd with alatch 34 coacting with notches on a stationarily mounted sector 35.

Secured to the shaft 3l is an arm 36 and loosely mounted upon the shaft31 beside this arm 3G is a worm wheel 3T. This worm wheel has a recessin one of its faces and the arm 3G lies within this recess. The wheel 3Tis provided with a lug LlO which lies in the path of movement of the endof the arm 3G. The worin wheel 3G meshes with a worm 41 on a short shaftwhich carries a hand wheel 41-2.

The operation of these parts of the mechanism will now be described.lVhen the valve 1-1- is in the closed position, the hand lever 33 is inits lower position and the lever is raised to open the valve and loweredto close it. Assume that the valve is in the open position and the leverin the upper position, that the boat is being propelled by the engineupon the surface and that it is desired to submerge. The steps incidentto submergence must be performed quickly so that the boat will besubmerged in the minimum of time. 'One of the necessary steps incidentto submerging the boat is to close the exhaust passage to prevent waterof subvinergence from flowing into the engine. To do this the operatorgrasps the lever 33 and moves it downwardly. This turns shaft 81 andoperates through the gears 30, 297 2? and 2S to rotate the shaft 1Gwhich carries the valve 14. Also, the rotation of shaft 16 operatesthrough the link 25 and its coperating crank arms to turn the shaft Thearrangement of the parts is such that this rotation of the shafts 16 and22 operates to raise the cover 2O from its seat out of the path ofmovement. of the valve 1e, move the valve through the opening providedby raising cover 2O and into contact with its seat and then retract thecover 20 somewhat. As the lever 33 is moved downward thus, the arm 36carried by the shaft 31 is moved back away from the lug 40. The.operator then grasps the hand wheel 42 and turns it, thus operatingthrough the worm 41 to rotate worm wheel 37 until the lug 40 is carriedaround again into Contact with the end of arm 36. lVhen this contact. ofthe lug and the end of the arm has been reZ-stablished, the rotation ofthe hand wheel 42 is continued with the result that. the shaft 31 isturned on a little farther in its bearings and this turning movementoperates through the gearing connected to shaft 31 to force the valve 14tightly against its seat, compressing the gasket carried by the valveand efecting a watertight seal at the end of the L 11.

In this condition of the parts, the valve 14 is locked against anyretractile movement by the worm wheel 37 and worm 41. In opening theexhaust passage, speed is not of such consequence. The hand wheel 42 isturned to move the lug 40 around a substantial distance and the handlever 83 is raised, thus actuating the valve 14 and cover 20 ashereinbetore described.

It will be noted that the hand lever 33 and the hand wheel 42 constitutetwo operating devices tor effecting the movement of the valve whichcontrols the exhaust passage. The handle 33 may be moved quickly and itis so connected to the valve 14 that it moves that. valve quickly fromthe full-open to the closed position. The hand wheel 42 is so geared tothe valve that it moves it slowly through worm gearing and may bemanipulated readily to force the valve against its seat with thepressure required `for effecting a watertight joint. In the closedposition the valve is held effectively against any retractile movementby the worm gearing and in the open position it and its gasket are amplyprotected against injury by the water in the tank 19 and by the cover20.

I claim:

1. A submarine boat having a hull, an internal combustion enginetherein, an exhaust passage for the engine leading outside the hull, anopening in the side of the passage, a closure arranged to be movedthrough the opening to close the exhaust passage, a cover for theopening adapted to close it when the closure is withdrawn, and operatingmechanism operated from within the hull for moving said closure andcover.

2. A submarine boat having a hull, an internal combustion enginetherein, an exhaust outlet for the engine leading outside the hull, aclosure for said outlet located outside the hull and two operatingmechanisms for said closure, one for positively moving the closurerapidly to its seat and the other for moving it slowly to carry ittightly against its seat.

3. A submarine boat having a hull, an internal combustion enginetherein, an exhaust outlet tor the engine leading outside the hull, aclosure for said outlet located outside the hull and two operatingmechanisms for said closure located within the hull of the boat, one ofsaid mechanisms being adapted positively to move the closure rapidly toits seat and the other for moving it slowly to carry it tightly againstits seat.

4. A submarine boat having a hull, an internal combustien enginetherein, an exhaust outlet for the engine leading outside the hull, aclosure for said outlet located outside the hull and two operatingmechanisms :tor said closure, one of which is adapted positively to moveit rapidly to its seat and the other of which includes worm gearing andis adapted to move the closure slowly to ca ry it tightly against itsseat and lock it in that position.

5. A submarine boat having a hull, an internal combustion enginetherein, an exhaust outlet for the engine leading outside the hull, aclosure for said outlet loeated outside the hull and two operatingmechanisms for said closure, one for positively moving the closurerapidly tc its seat and the other for moving it slowly to carry ittightly against its seat, the latter of said mechanisms being connectedloosely to the closure so that it may be brought into ope-ration afterthe closure has been moved to its seat by the other mechanisms.

6. A submarine boat having a hull, an internal combustion enginetherein, an exhaust outlet 'for the engine leading outside the hull,closure for said outlet, means for moving the closure to its closingposition and to an open position and a tank into which the closure iscarried when it is moved to its open position.

7. A submarine boat having a hull, a superstructure thereon, an internalcombustion engine within the hull, an exhaust outlet for the engineleading into the superstructure, a valve in the superstructure forclosing said outlet,` mechanism operable from within the hull for movingthe valve to its closing position and to an open position and a tankwithin the superstructure into which the valve is carried when it ismoved to its open position.

8. A submarine boat having a hull, an internal combustion enginetherein, an exhaust outlet for the engine leading outside the hull, aclosure for said outlet, means for moving said closure to its closingposition and to an open position and a shield connected to said meansand movable thereby, simultaneously with the movement of the closure toits open position, into a position ior shielding tne closure fromexhaust produots passing 'through the exhaust outlet.

9. A submarine boat having a hull, a superstructure thereon, an internalcombustion engine Within the null, an exhaust outlet or the engineleading into the superstructure, a valve in the superstructure forclosing the exhaust outlet, mechanism operated from Within the hull formoving the valve to its closing and to an open position and a shieldwithin the superstructure con- .nected to said mechanism and moved bythe mechanism when moving the valve to its open position into a positionfor shielding` the valve from contact with the products of combustionpassing through the exhaust outlet.

10. submarine boat having a hull, a

superstructure thereon, an internal combustion engine within the hull,an exhaust out- .let extending from the engine into the superstructure,a muiier in the superstructure, a easing connecting the exhaust outletto the mutlier and having an opening therein, a valve for the exhaustoutlet located within the superstructure, an operating mechanismoperable from Within the hull for moving` the valve from its closingposition through the opening" in said casing to an open position and acover connected to said mechanism and moved thereby to close saidopening in the casing after the valve has been moved through thatopening to its open position.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

